'Little E' giving NASCAR needed boost during testing

Posted: Thursday, January 17, 2008

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - With the season-opening Daytona 500 more than a month away, Dale Earnhardt Jr. already seems to be giving NASCAR a much-needed boost.

Television ratings have dropped in each of the past three years, but Earnhardt's stunning move from his father's Dale Earnhardt Inc. to Hendrick Motorsports may have injected a new wave of interest into the Sprint Cup Series.

Earnhardt was one of 30 drivers testing Tuesday at the Daytona International Speedway in preparation for next month's race. His fans came to the track, too, for FanFest, an information opportunity for fans to meet the drivers.

A week ago, about 400 fans came to the infield to meet 25 drivers, including defending series champion Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

More than 800 fans were in the infield more than five hours before the start of this week's FanFest. That number swelled to 1,500 an hour before Earnhardt made his appearance.

Earnhardt struggled a year ago, especially after announcing in March he wouldn't return to his family's race team in 2008. When he failed to qualify for the Chase for the Championship, ratings took a nosedive.

Now that he's with the most-formidable team in the Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR hopes interest - and ratings - will rebound.

"I can't tell you whether that's why the television ratings are down," Earnhardt said after practicing his No. 88 Chevrolet. "It would be nice to think you had that kind of influence, but at the same time, I don't want to be the downfall or the reason for it. If I can get back into Victory Lane I know my fans will be excited about that. And if they're not tuning in, they'll be turning up personally to see it."

Earnhardt also created a stir in the garage area by posting the fastest single-lap speed during two weeks of testing. He ran 185.820 mph Tuesday morning, easily beating the Johnson's fastest lap of 184.782 mph set on Jan. 7.

Earnhardt's move, complete with a change of car number and sponsor, is certain to give NASCAR a bump, especially for the Daytona 500. But with that comes a lot of pressure and responsibility to make good on all the expectations. After all, Hendrick has celebrated a championship in seven of the last 13 years, including a run of two in a row with Johnson, and Earnhardt is the most-popular driver in the sport.

"I want to be up front and be toward the front and challenging, and when I show up and the racetrack I want people to expect me to run well, not just at particular tracks everywhere," Earnhardt said.

"I was hoping that with some of the extra ability that Hendrick has in winning championships and races on a regular basis that it could improve my finishing. I don't want to sit here and guess how many races we'll win. We'll win some races, and I expect to win soon. I'm a good driver with a good team. And if we don't make any mistakes on Sunday, we should have great finishes and win some races."

Half of the teams expected for the Daytona 500 tested last week. The other half worked out this week. Both sessions were divided into three single-car sessions and three featuring multi-car drafts.

Earnhardt was 10th-fastest in the first drafting session Tuesday afternoon at 187.075 mph. Ryan Newman was quickest at 187.907.

Newman's team was so pleased, they stopped practicing 30 minutes early to allow Newman to go fishing at Lake Lloyd in the infield.

The test session also allows Earnhardt to get used to his new crew.

"I don't know the guys that well, so I'm just nervous getting to know them and hoping that they like the kind of driver I am and they're happy that they have me as a driver," he said. "That's what you want from the guys working on your car is for them to be glad you're there and that you're the one that's driving it.

Tony Eury Jr., Earnhardt's cousin, also left DEI to be the crew chief for the new team. He feels a different kind of pressure: to keep up with his new teammates.

"We've got some things we're changing around," Eury said. "We're just trying to bring the level of the team up to where the 24 (Gordon) and 48 (Johnson) are. There is no doubt they are the best teams in the Hendrick organization. We'll have four great teams (counting Casey Mears)."

PIT STOPS: Testing will conclude this afternoon with two drafting sessions. After that, teams from the Nationwide Series will move into Daytona for three days, starting Friday. After that, the next time a race car is on the track will be practice and qualifying for the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona next week ... Ken Schrader will replace John Andretti in the No. 49 BAM Dodge during the Daytona 500. The team said it's not sure about its driver lineup after Daytona.